Volvo Penta Assisted Docking System

ShaneAtSea

ShaneAtSea

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Im not sure if this is a good thing or not.........people lacking essential skills from being too reliant on technology :unsure:

"Assisted Docking is a new boat docking system that compensates for some external elemental forces and allows the captain to navigate tight areas with higher precision, enabling safer and easy boat docking when facing the challenges of crowded marinas. This is the full demo of the system, showcasing the main features of the system."

 
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I changed my car last time to one with an automatic gearbox . Much nicer driving experience and I don't want to go back to a manual gearbox.
However that doesn't mean I cant drive a car with a manual gearbox if required.

Doesn't the same philosophy apply here . Having something that assists doesn't necessarily make someone an unskilled driver.

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MartynG said:
I changed my car last time to one with an automatic gearbox . Much nicer driving experience and I don't want to go back to a manual gearbox.
However that doesn't mean I cant drive a car with a manual gearbox if required.

Doesn't the same philosophy apply here . Having something that assists doesn't necessarily make someone an unskilled driver.

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Yeah me to. I'll never buy another manual car again.

I love the all integrated Volvo Penta system...........IPS, Glass Cockpit, Joystick, Dynamic Positioning, Empirbus, Garmin

My point being that if you dont learn how to dock using throttles and thrusters then what happens when the 'Volvo Penta Assisted Docking System' fails

 
Don,t think the auto boxed motorcar analogy works .This is a parking , steering , positioning , spatel awareness thing .
Just takes a bit of practice with wind , your prop(s) and any thrusters .

In my view manoeuvring is huge part of the pleasure and nice skill to have .
We have just two shaft drive props and a strong bow thruster .I find it easy , deep V and low air draft means little windage .
Props are high pitched so bite at just a click up or down .

How ever in today’s increasing woke society and because it can be done , electrotwackery boat parking I realise in this instance I might come across as a dinosaur.So be it .
 
ShaneAtSea said:
Yeah me to. I'll never buy another manual car again.

I love the all integrated Volvo Penta system...........IPS, Glass Cockpit, Joystick, Dynamic Positioning, Empirbus, Garmin

My point being that if you dont learn how to dock using throttles and thrusters then what happens when the 'Volvo Penta Assisted Docking System' fails

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They said the same when thrusters arrived, remember the same when sat nav arrived also, but agree reliance on it can be a problem.

Used to drive round the Country, and town, with just an old AA handbook, no mobile phone never got lost, always got home, it was the norm back then :) .

Brian
 
The car analogy doesn't work. If you forget how to use the mechanics of the car, you can just leave it where it is and it won't move. You can get out and wander off. Boats don't behave that way and unless you fancy a swim, then you'll want to be next to something dry.

I've nothing against these systems, but I do recall my father's words that the more advanced the car (in fact, he was talking about tractors at the time, but never mind) the more things there are to go wrong. Having seen the problems that IPS generated, plus some less than desirable responses from VP to the availability of parts for older engines, I would not be investing my money in such systems.

I can see the attraction - it is primarily for people who don't use their boats an awful lot and don't particularly want to have the skill (which for some people does take a time to develop) to maneuver deftly in tricky situations. That's fine, and in no way would I look down on those people (well, a bit perhaps). If they want to spend their money on something which makes life less stressful to them and gives them more pleasure from their boats, fantastic.

The crucial question though is what happens when it does fail. It will at some point.
 
halcyon said:
They said the same when thrusters arrived, remember the same when sat nav arrived also, but agree reliance on it can be a problem.

Used to drive round the Country, and town, with just an old AA handbook, no mobile phone never got lost, always got home, it was the norm back then :) .

Brian
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Clearing out my late uncle's house, he had a lot of AA route books from the 50s and 60s, made interesting reading.

When I first started doing surveys for security systems, a mobile phone was about the size of a concrete block and you had to hire a thug to carry it around for you ;)

Stopping at motorway service stations to phone home to the office was the norm, the phones becoming pocket portable was a god send for me.
Extracting the NMEA 0183 data from a Garmin 45XL into a Psion Organiser 3c running a hacked version of Autoroute that then could then take the positioning data and show where you were was where I first started with moving maps.
The Garmin 45XL was quite good but for getting an accurate position to dive a wreck not so much, SA was still switched on and it could only get you to within a 100m area.
 
I think this technology is great, especially if it helps more people get out on the water. It's obviously a great sales tool on a boat show stand. Of course everyone should know how to manoeuvre their boat on the sticks, but everyone should know how to use a paper chart rather than rely on a plotter that can fail, but they don't.... and seem to have coped OK. We do tend to take a bit of a Luddite approach to new tech... "what if it breaks? Then you'll be stuffed". Old stuff breaks too :). I do take a certain amount of pride that I can handle my boat without using the bow or stern thruster, but I do use them because they make like easier and less stressful. I like the idea with the Volvo system that I could leave the helm in a tight marina to re-tie fenders or whatnot, with the boat remaining in position. However I can't ever see me buying a boat with IPS, but then that's a different can of worms!
 
I guess this is more like a car parking itself, which I don't use but is there. I have tried the car parking itself but I just didnt like it and feel like I can do it quicker. Not that 'parking' a boat is ever quick. However all the other bits like joystick, DPS, etc just make things easier. Guess it is what you are used to.

markc said:
However I can't ever see me buying a boat with IPS
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Depending on what size boat you buy then IPS (or equiv) might be the only option. Sunseeker 65 sport yacht for example is only available with IPS. Above 70 foot I dont think IPS is really used, but then again read about a smallish new ferry fitted with 4x IPS so who knows.
 
markc said:
I think this technology is great, especially if it helps more people get out on the water. It's obviously a great sales tool on a boat show stand. Of course everyone should know how to manoeuvre their boat on the sticks, but everyone should know how to use a paper chart rather than rely on a plotter that can fail, but they don't.... and seem to have coped OK. We do tend to take a bit of a Luddite approach to new tech... "what if it breaks? Then you'll be stuffed". Old stuff breaks too :). I do take a certain amount of pride that I can handle my boat without using the bow or stern thruster, but I do use them because they make like easier and less stressful. I like the idea with the Volvo system that I could leave the helm in a tight marina to re-tie fenders or whatnot, with the boat remaining in position. However I can't ever see me buying a boat with IPS, but then that's a different can of worms!
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Why dont you like IPS? Its a great system

The only reason i would hesitate to buy a boat with IPS is for places like the ICW where there are sandbanks, debris etc

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This not an update for a narrow boat. The person this is aimed at already has the latest and greatest technologically advanced docking system. This is merely a software upgrade. Do I want it? You bet I do!
Why would a bunch of elderly, sedate men put themselves through the stress of parking a boat in difficult conditions? It’s like we want that coronary.
Look at it another way, how many here have someone else onboard who can dock your boat? Usually, the men drive whilst barking orders at the wife who is doing the grunt work. That doesn’t really make a lot of sense does it
 
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Bouba said:
Usually, the men drive whilst barking orders at the wife who is doing the grunt work. That doesn’t really make a lot of sense does it
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Actually I have really good chief officer and we exchange few words while mooring the boat.
The barking of instructions was in the early years !



The chief does drive the boat occasionally but never, brings it into or departs a mooring . She would get us home if I fell ill.
Docking controls would certainly add confidence and allow me to be crew more often - which I would not mind.

As it is I don't have autopilot so perhaps that would be first . Is an integrated docking/autopilot available for a boat with non electronic engines on outdrives ?
 
MartynG said:
Actually I have really good chief officer and we exchange few words while mooring the boat.
The barking of instructions was in the early years !



The chief does drive the boat occasionally but never, brings it into or departs a mooring . She would get us home if I fell ill.
Docking controls would certainly add confidence and allow me to be crew more often - which I would not mind.

As it is I don't have autopilot so perhaps that would be first . Is an integrated docking/autopilot available for a boat with non electronic engines on outdrives ?
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I’m in a similar situation. I was once watching a couple launch on the boat ramp, and I said to my other half, don’t you remember when we did that like a well oiled machine? She said, all she remembers is me yelling at her!
Now of course we are telepathic. I just give her pep talk before we enter port?
She is qualified to drive the boat and does her share of the helming. But I also do all the leaving and parking. When I asked her what she would do if something happened to me, she said she would drive the boat to the port and then call the capitainerie to assist her. I think that is a good plan
 
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